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A CurtainUp Review
Silence! The Musical
| December 21 Update: The show continued its successful run in a brand-new theater: with stadium seats and great sightlines -- The Elektra Theater is at 673 Eighth Avenue (at 42nd St. Then they announced a Dec. 18th closing but a surge of ticket sales let to an announcement of a re-opening, This second run ended 8/13/11-- but due to ticket demand is repoening, still at the Electra, On January 18th. The playing schedule will be Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7 PM, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM, and Sundays at 3 & 7 PM. Running time is 88 minutes with no intermission. Tickets are $25 - $79 and are available by calling 212-352-3101 or through www.SilenceTheMusical.com. |
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Dr. Lecter, my name is Clarice Starling. May I speak to you? — Clarice A census taker tried to test me once. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti — Dr. Lecter I know. — Clarice |
Jenn Harris and Brent Barrett
(Photo: Carol Rosegg) |
Know that it may now be officially labeled as an affectionately re-authorized spoof by its adapters/collaborators Hunter Bell (book— Bell also wrote the book for [title of show]), John and Al Kaplan (music and lyrics), and Christopher Catelli (direction and choreography) thereby justifying its presence as well as its purpose to entertain. Overflowing with delectably prurient innuendos and bursting with deliriously campy conventions, Silence! The Musical may take the prize as the most sophomorically scabrous musical comedy of this or possibly any season.
The famously quotable dialogue (Ted Talley won one of the film's four Academy Awards for his adapted screenplay based on the novel by Thomas Harris) has been ravenously distilled and/or distorted to sufficiently satisfy the collaborators' concerted cravings. The result for them and for fans of the film (and others) is a breezily rewarding, laughably lurid romp through serial-killer land.
Silence! The Musical became the runaway hit of the 2005 NYC Fringe Festival, winning the award for Best Musical. Bell's book can certainly be commended for staying faithful to the nerves-jangling psychological underpinnings that drive the relationship between FBI Agent trainee Clarice Starling (Jenn Harris) and her mind-infiltrating nemesis/serial killer Hannibal Lecter (Brent Barrett) whom she affectionately refers to as "Hannibal the Cannibal."
Bell has embraced the source material with unapologetically adoring school-boy affection as well as with a sense of humor that certainly makes it palatable for the more lily-livered among us, in deference to Lecter's delicious line quoted above. In the musical, Lecter adds, "Truth be told, it was an indifferent '31 Beaujolais and a fluffy rice pilaf."
The plot revolves around the incarcerated Lecter's ability to help the determined Starling find a maniac who is still on the loose, a transvestite Jaimie Gumb, aka "Buffalo Bill" (Stephen Bienskie) who kidnaps over-weight women ("Are You a Size 14?") and skins them alive to make dresses. Starling's efforts are further complicated by her FBI boss Sgt. Pembry (Jeff Hiller) and the lecherous prison psychiatrist Dr. Chilton (Harry Bouvy).
The question: Will Agent Starling be able rescue chubby Senator Martin's equally chubby daughter Catherine before she ends up as a dress? Both mother and daughter are played by the versatile Lucia Spina in complimentary blonde curly wigs that look like they might have been skinned off Bernadette Peter's scalp. Except for leads Harris and Barrett, the rest of the company, including the lambs, also double as "others."
The whole idea, of course, is for the audience to have fun re-visiting this cult favorite, as conceived through director Christopher Gattelli's own laudably skewed perspective. Designer Scott Pask's production design is simple but smartly engineered to accommodate four panels on rollers (often pulled and pushed around and into place by the lambs who also serve as backup singers.). The laughs begin with the wonderfully droll Harris as we recognize how accurately she is mimicking Jodie Foster's (Clarice in the film) slight Southern-accent and her not-so-slight speech impediment.
While Brent Barrett is also currently starring on Broadway as Billy Flynn in Chicago (how does he do it?) he appears to be having no problem doubling on weekends as Dr. Lecter. He has the good looks and the stirring singing voice that add the extra dimensions that make the cool, calm, and calculating Lecter a rather dashing lunatic. However, don't expect any of the bone-chilling or blood-curdling resonance of the 20 year-old film to infiltrate this musical.
What you can expect is plenty of suggestive imagery in the musical numbers, particularly "Quid Pro Quo" and "If I Could Smell Your Cunt," the latter segueing into an hilariously risqué pas de deux performed by Callan Bergmann and Ashlee Dupree as Starling's and Lecter's counterparts in a dream-world. Intentional or not, the entire company performs in a Ziegfeld-styled production number featuring huge butterfly fans that is reminiscent of the one that Barrett performs with the chorus in Chicago. The savvy audience caught on quickly and showed their approval.
It's been a long time since we've been able to laugh aloud at choreography and Gattelli's dance vocabulary gives us plenty of opportunities. Perhaps a bit gross, but his intentions are clearly intended to be blatantly puerile thereby self-validating. This is particularly evident in an outrageously comical exercise in masturbation, as performed with consummate alacrity and precision by always over-the-top Hiller, in his other role as compulsive sexual deviant prisoner Miggs.
The responsive audience that packed the tiny Theater 80 couldn't seem to get enough of the musical's abundance of bathroom humor. Many fondly recalled scenes, however comically deranged, were met with screams of delight. The musical sticks very closely to the story and only strays to let the talented performers loose to twist and chew up the dialogue or to burst into flights of musical dementia, as with "Buffalo Bill's" aria "I'd Fuck Me" (you won't be shocked if you know the film.) Except for the fact that you would never sing the songs in polite company, they have the sound of old school musical theater, quite witty and melodious, and played with gusto by the three-piece off-stage band.
Deidre Goodwin is impressive as FBI agent Ardelia Mapp whose interest in Clarice is shown to be more than helping her shoot straight. Of course there is nothing straight about the psycho "Buffalo Bill," as played to en travestie perfection by Bienski. What makes this low-budget musical homage so endearing is that it makes you smile instead of squirm.
While I wouldn't place a bet on Silence! The Musical becoming the next Urinetown, its large fan base could give it an extended life — that is if Dr. Lecter doesn't eat them all, accompanied with a nice Sangiovese.
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Silence! The Musical Book By Hunter Bell Music and Lyrics by Jon Kaplan and Al Kaplan Directed and Choreographed by Christopher Gattelli Cast: Brent Barrett (Dr. Hannibal Lecter), Jenn Harris (Clarice Starling), Stephen Bienskie (Jaimie Gumb, aka "Buffalo Bill," et al), Harry Bouvy (Dr. Chilton, et al), Deidre Goodwin (Ardelia Mapp, et al), Jeff Hiller (Sgt. Pembry, et al), Howard Kaye (Jack Crawford, et al.), Lucia Spina (Catherine Martin, et al), Callan Bergmann (Dream Hannibal), Ashlee Dupré (Dream Clarice) Band: Brian J. Nash (Music Director/Keyboard 1), Nate Patten (Keyboard 2), Dan McMillan (Percussion), Dorothy Martin (Second Associate Conductor) Set Design: Scott Pask Costume Design: David Kaley Lighting Design: Jeff Croiter Sound Design: Carl Casella Projection Design: Richard H. DiBella Music Supervisor/Additional Orchestrations: Mark Hartman Music Director/Orchestrations: Brian J. Nash Running Time: 2 hours including intermission Theatre 80, 80 St. Marks Place (between First & Second Ave.) (212) 352 - 3101 Tickets ($38.00) Performances Fridays at 8 PM and Saturdays at 8 PM and 10:30 PM. From 6/24/11; opening 7/09/11; closing 8/13/11-- extended to 9/24/11 Review by Simon Saltzman based on performance 07/01/11 |
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